Amy

Amy

Amy is an over 16 feet long female great white shark. She was first photographed at Guadalupe Island, Mexico in 2008. She was tagged with a SPOT tag in 2008 which tracks her movements in real time. She was the first mature female white shark we tagged at Guadalupe Island. Amy is a very significant shark in our quest to learn more about the complete life history of this species in the northeastern Pacific. Via her SPOT tag, Amy was the first shark to reveal where mature females are spending their time during their two year absence from the adult aggregation site at Guadalupe Island. She left Guadalupe Island in late January 2009 and spent the next 15 months living an entirely pelagic existence in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In April of 2010 she surprised us by entering the Sea of Cortez, traveling all the way to the northern reaches before exiting two months later. Pupping in southern California begins as early as April and peaks in July, so we cannot say for sure that she gave birth while she was in the Sea of Cortez, but we believe she was pregnant and therefore it is possible.

After rounding Cabo San Lucas Amy’s tag suddenly stopped transmitting about 260 miles southwest of the tip of Baja California. We have heard nothing from Amy since June 2010 and we suspect she may have met a tragic end. Although it is possible that the tag failed, she has not been resighted at Guadalupe Island since then. The story of Amy reminds us of why we are working so hard to learn more about this magnificent species. The tracking work we conduct is critical, allowing us to unravel the life history and migratory patterns of white sharks so that we can identify the times and regions where they are most vulnerable.

This map shows 18 moths of tracking data for Amy.

You can follow the migration of the tagged white sharks using the Expedition White Sharkapp for iPad and iPhone

You can sponsor a shark and help conserve and protect northeastern Pacific white sharksthrough the MCSISponsor a Shark program

These data are the property of MCSI and may not be reproduced or used without permission.

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